Comments open on Lassen Park’s Bumpass Hell access alternatives

Visitors move down the trail last August into the Bumpass Hell geothermal basin in Lassen Volcanic National Park. The National Park Service is seeking comments on the environmental analysis of three alternatives for the trail to the feature and the boardwalks there. The trail and the basin will be closed this year for work on the trail.
Steve Schoonover — Enterprise-Record

Mineral >> Three alternatives have been developed to revamp access to Bumpass Hell in Lassen Volcanic National Park, and a 30-day comment period has opened on the environmental assessment of the three options.

The preferred option will maintain the current boardwalk configuration in the basin, and make improvements to the trail from the main park road.

The geothermal basin and the trail to it are closed this year, for work on the trail.

According park spokeswoman Karen Haner, the necessary approvals for the work are expected in May, but due to snow at the park work won’t start then.

The first step will be replacing the boardwalks with new structures designed to handle winter snow loads and the acidic conditions in the basin. They would be modular and could be moved as necessitated by the changes of the thermal features.

The preferred alternative calls for enlarging the viewing platforms in the basin at both the Big Boiler and Pyrite Pool.

Work will move to the trails as snow allows, Haner said in an email. An abandoned access into the basin is to be reopened, and the existing trail will be upgraded to provide a loop.

The main trail in will be widened to about 4 feet, with efforts to reduce the grade in steeper portions. A meadow beside the trail is to be restored.

The Bumpass Hell Overlook where the trail reaches the basin is to be enlarged and improved, as will the Brokeoff Mountain viewpoint on the way in from the main road. An informal overlook on the south rim of the basin will be upgraded.

Due to the short construction season the work is expected to take several seasons, Haner said. An overlook of the basin can be reached from the Kings Creek Picnic Area, but it’s a longer, harder walk, and parking there is likely to be difficult.

Comments

Currently the National Park Service is seeking comments on the environmental assessment through April 7. It covers the preferred option and two others.

One of the alternatives would leave things as they are.

The other would include most of the things in the preferred option, but shorten the boardwalk or replace it with a new overlook on the southeast rim of the basin. It would also include a restroom at the Bumpass Hell Overlook, and perhaps a webcam and a wireless hot spot there as well.

About the Author

Steve Schoonover is the city editor of the Enterprise-Record and Oroville Mercury-Register. A resident of Chico since 1963 and a 1975 graduate of Chico State University, he has been with the E-R since 1980. Reach the author at sschoonover@chicoer.com
or follow Steve on Twitter: @ER_sschoonover.